Psychology Commons^™

Why Does The Universe Exist? An Advaita Vedantic Perspective, Adam J. Rock

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Debates concerning causal explanations of the universe tend to be based on a priori propositions (e.g., Edwards, 1973; Smith, 1995; Swinburne, 1978). The present paper, however, addresses the metaphysical question, “Why does the universe exist?” from the perspective of a school of Hindu philosophy referred to as advaita vedanta and two of its a posteriori derived creation theories: the theory of simultaneous creation (drishti-srishti vada) and the theory of non-causality (ajata vada). Objections to advaita vedanta are also discussed. It is concluded that advaita vedanta has the potential to make a significant contribution to contemporary metaphysical debate in general and …

Russian Soul: A Report From The European Transpersonal Association 2005 Conference In Moscow, Glenn Hartelius

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

NA

(2005) Talking Globally, David K. Kennedy

Collected Papers of David Kennedy

Talking Globally is an annotated transcript of a discussion conducted by myself in a fifth grade classroom in a public school in an affluent suburban town in the northeast U.S. The stimulus for the discussion was a brief text, taken from Kofi Anan’s We The Peoples: The Role of the United Nations in the 21st Century, which offers a brief, vivid statistical picture of the planetary distribution of resources. In response, the students generated 14 questions, which ranged across a broad variety of topics, including the national debt, US weapons development and production, the war in Iraq, and the …

The Soul In Psychotherapy: Lobbing Dynamite With A James Hillman Construct, Emile Karl Wijnans

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the work of James Hillman-world-renowned psychologist, post-Jungian theorist and founder of archetypal psychology-with specific attention to the iterative illustrations of his central theoretical construct, the soul. An analytic rather than religious term, the soul's approximate definition, meaning, use, and significance as a therapeutic concept are considered across Hillman's 45-year career. To date, no published study has examined Hillman's work with this focus. Published roughly a decade apart, four seminal Hillman texts are analyzed using an interpretative methodology termed conservative hermeneutics. Despite widespread consensus that Hillman' s ideas and literary style are iconoclastic, ephemeral and shape shifting, the …

To See More Clearly And Broadly: Science And The Postmodern Sentiment, C. Jason Smith, Robert Froemke

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

[First paragraph]

What we call postmodernism, whether we refer to the sciences or the humanities, is a certain preoccupation with the role of the human observer in the composition and perception -- perhaps even construction -- of reality. The postmodern condition, so to speak, is the moment in history when the hard sciences and the sciences of man seem to be suffering from the same anxieties about the relevance of the self-reflexive interaction between the observer and the subject to the fabric of existence and the web of knowledge. In simplest terms, we would define the postmodern question as this: …

Of Parts And Wholes: Self-Similarity And Synecdoche In Science, Culture And Literature, Dirk Vanderbeke

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

[Editors' Introduction]

The discussion here centers on how self-similarity, or parts resembling a whole, has been a recurring aspect in the most diverse fields of human thinking from antiquity to the present. Primary examples are drawn from physics, biology, cybernetics, alchemy, philosophy, myth and, of course, language and literature. The author argues that self-similar patterns are one of the persistent ways in which the human mind structures its experience and knowledge of the world, and then examines some of the questions that arise when an almost ubiquitous concept, structure or linguistic and literary phenomenon resurfaces in a new guise in …

Demonizing Science And Industry, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The author discusses the perception that leaders in science and industry seeking power or setting down confining constraints to personal behavior as well as the converse of “…following where one’s heart and soul leads.” The author continues by positing that both sets of beliefs offer similar types of mental constraints.

Intelligence And Weapons Of Mass Destruction, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The author discusses the ramifications of the lack of epistemological underpinnings from which the rightness or wrongness regarding WMD in Iraq can be constructed and adjudicated.

A Revised Paranormal Belief Scale, Jerome J. Tobacyk

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

A 26-item Revised Paranormal Belief Scale is introduced which provides a measure of degree of

belief in each of seven dimensions: Traditional Religious Belief, Psi, Witchcraft, Superstition,

Spiritualism, Extraordinary Life Forms, and Precognition. Improvements from the original 25-

item Paranormal Belief Scale (Tobacyk & Milford, 1983) include adoption of a seven-point rating

scale as well as item changes for three subscales: Precognition, Witchcraft, and Extraordinary

Life Forms. These improvements provide greater reliability and validity, less restriction of range,

and greater cross-cultural validity.

Animal Mind As Approached By The Transpersonal: Notion Of Collective Conscious Experience, Axel A. Randrup

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

The discussion of animal mind in this paper is based on an idealist philosophy contending that

only conscious experience is real, based on the transpersonal notion of collective conscious experience.

The latter has earlier been explained by the author as experience referred to a group of

humans as the subject, the We. Here it is contended that also a group of humans and animals

can be seen as the subject of collective conscious experiences. The author argues that the notion

of collective conscious experience provides a possibility for studying the problems of animal mind

and the related human problem of …

Editors’ Introduction, Harris Friedman, Douglas A. Macdonald

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

NA

“All Mind? No Matter”: The Self-Regulation Paradigm, Stanley Krippner

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

In this short article, the author discusses the conflict between materialistic and transcendental

paradigms in accounting for the nature of reality. After speculating on the meaning and implications

of an idealist perspective where consciousness is seen as the fundamental ground of all

phenomena, the author reframes the consciousness versus matter debate in terms of complex

systems theory. Such a reframing allows for the mutual coexistence of both matter and consciousness

in a manner which is nonreductive and inclusive of different epistemologies.

The Trans/Trans Fallacy And The Dichotomy Debate, Burton Daniels

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

This paper presents an integration of transpersonal structural theory. It is claimed that a

“dichotomy debate” is currently taking place within transpersonal psychology, which involves

what Wilber has called the “pre/trans fallacy” (1993) and the “ascender/descender debate”

(1995). The pre/trans fallacy states that early, prepersonal life experiences are confused for

transpersonal experiences of higher consciousness. Yet Grof (1985, 2000) and Washburn (1995)

contend that early, prenatal, life experiences are legitimate sources of transpersonal experience,

and can be thought of as the presence of deeper consciousness. Consequently, it is suggested that

confusing prepersonal life experiences for prenatal life experiences—as well as …

Images Of The Intrapersonal Organization: Soul Making At Work, Mary A. Hazen, Jo A. Isbey

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

In this paper, the authors use archetypal theory to explore the relationship between personal and

organizational development and the role of tacit knowledge and active imagination in such development.

The authors claim that organizational change occurs within each person as well as at the

more frequently studied levels of small group and large system; and that individuals and their relationship

with work and the organization as experienced develop concurrently. The authors’ position

is illustrated through a case taken from a larger qualitative study using methods of data collection

and analysis rooted in an interpretive framework.

Integral Psychology And Foreign Policy: Lessons From The Fulbright Scholars Program, Daniel Holland

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Humanistic, transpersonal, and integral psychological principles have many applications for social and foreign policy, but concrete examples are needed to illustrate this connection. The Fulbright Scholars Program represents one concrete example of an effort in U.S. foreign policy that closely reflects the values of humanistic, transpersonal, and integral psychology. The implications that such a program has for the purposeful involvement of humanistic, transpersonal, and integral psychologists in other social policy efforts is discussed. The need for integral psychologists to expand beyond the traditional boundaries of professional psychological practice into such realms as foreign policy is emphasized.

Reframing The Conflict In Fiji: Economic And Transpersonal Frameworks For Peace, Harris Friedman

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Reframing is presented as a psychological technique applicable to facilitating change leading to conflict resolution and the achievement of peace. The current conflict in Fiji is discussed as a case study of one such application. Fijian problems have been commonly attributed to racial and ethnic divides that are not easily amenable to change. An intervention providing an alternative understanding of these conflicts, namely that they are better seen as due to competing economic models, is described. The scientific transpersonal perspective is presented as another alternative framework, seen as especially applicable to religious conflicts, which potentially provides an inclusive way to …

Surfing The Absolute: Comments On Volume 22 Of The Ijts, Don Diespecker

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

NA

Two Suitors: A Parable, Richard Tarnas

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

NA

Natural Crazy Wisdom, Kidder Smith, Susan Burggraf

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

NA

Cosmic Connectivity: Toward A Scientific Foundation For Transpersonal Consciousness, Ervin Laszlo

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

The principal aim of this paper is to overview some of the salient existing empirical data supporting

the possibility of an interconnectivity of consciousness that extends beyond the conventionally

recognized confines of body and mind. Thereafter, the article provides possible explanations

of this apparent interconnectivity drawn from the work of Jung and recent developments in

physics.

Art And Spirit: The Artistic Brain, The Navajo Concept Of Hozho, And Kandinsky’S “Inner Necessity”, Charles D. Laughlin

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Most traditional art forms around the planet are an expression of the spiritual dimension of a culture’s

cosmology and the spiritual experiences of individuals. Religious art and iconography often

reveal the hidden aspects of spirit as glimpsed through the filter of cultural significance. Moreover,

traditional art, although often highly abstract, may actually describe sensory experiences derived

in alternative states of consciousness (ASC). This article analyzes the often fuzzy concepts of “art”

and “spirit” and then operationalizes them in a way that makes them useful for cross-cultural

transpersonal research. The fact of the universally abstract nature of traditional art is analyzed …

Transpersonal Functions Of Masks In Nohkido, Sirkku M. Hiltunen

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

This article discusses the transpersonal functions of masks in ritual and in drama therapy as

expressed in the creative path of NohKiDo. NohKiDo, whose main components include the

Prism of Consciousness (Personal, Transpersonal, and Universal), the Rainbow Method, Action

Meditation techniques (masked meditation, etc.), and Therapeutic Noh Theater, is a therapeutic

system developed by the author through the redefinition and interpretation of a set of

transpersonal concepts based on Zeami’s (one of the founders of Noh) original Noh formulation

for Therapeutic Noh Theater. The most significant concepts of Ma (heightened energy through

stillness and silence), Mushin-no-kan (transpersonal projection), Ichu no …

A Secret Poem For You, Jorge N. Ferrer

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

In this paper, the author presents a poem entitled “Plenitude.” The poem, originally written by

the author’s father (José Antonio Noguera Gimenez) in Spanish, is offered by the author as a vehicle

for the exploration of self, life, spirit, and nature. Both the Spanish and English versions of the

poem are provided.

Metaphysical Tracking: The Oldest Ecopsychology, David Kowalewski

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Ecopsychology—the use of nature for understanding and healing the soul—has become accepted

as a legitimate tool by theorists and practitioners alike. Yet one important dimension of the

field has been ignored: metaphysical tracking. This article brings to light a number of mystical

phenomena that trackers, ancient and modern, have experienced, and suggests their common

root in the so-called energy body. The implications for psychospiritual growth are then

described. Finally, alternative explanations and new avenues for research are discussed.

Getting Complements On Your Mental State (Verbs), Jill De Villiers

Philosophy: Faculty Publications

There is a considerable body of theoretical and experimental work on how children develop a Theory of Mind. A recent meta-analysis by Wellman, Cross and Watson (2001) has revealed a consensus that children develop an awareness that other people might have false beliefs around the age of four years, give or take six months. Wellman and some other theorists believe that children undergo a conceptual change at this point, from a psychological theory based primarily on desire as the motivator of human action, to one that accords beliefs a causal role. Other theorists such as Leslie (1991; 1994) contend that …

Toward A Participative Integral Philosophy, Daryl S. Paulson

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

NA

The Abnā Al-Dawla: The Definition And Legitimation Of Identity In Response To The Fourth Fitna, John P. Turner

Faculty Articles

Reopens the question about the identity and provenance of the abã al-dawla of the Abbasid dynasty. Period when these individuals formed an identity; Previous definitions of abã al-dawla; Reason why they formed a collective.

Three Questions On Torture, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes three common questions intrinsic to public discourse on torture.

An Intractable Problem With The Security Classification Of Information, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article identifies an infrequently discussed but highly significant problem with the protection of information for security purposes.

Trends. Psychology Of The Alienated And Political Violence, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This Trends article discusses alienation and the psychology of the alienated in literature (Camus and Dostoevsky) and society.